How do you move 1.75 million artifacts and specimens? Very carefully, and with a lot of help!
On December 11, 1999 the Science Museum of Minnesota opened the doors to its brand new building. Although the actual move took place during summer and fall 1999, the Science Learning Division’s giant task of packing and moving the museum’s collections began years earlier. Spearheaded by the Collections Services Department, planning for the collections move began in 1995. Because of the enormity of the task, a small army of volunteers was enlisted to help Collections Services pack.
The Collections Services Department and other staff from the Science Learning Division have drawn from their experience of moving the museum’s collections and published a book. Moving the Mountain: the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Guide to Moving Collections is our attempt to pass on to you methods we developed along the way, dos and don’ts, and especially lessons we learned.
Moving the Museum is now available for download courtesy of the Science Museum of Minnesota. Please email science@smm.org or call (651) 221-9435 with any questions.